The year was 1964 and the place was Le Mans. The players were Shelby American and Ferrari. The cars were the new and largely unproven Shelby Daytona and the Ferrari 250 GTO. It was a battle of titanic egos, of hot rodders versus the European establishment, and of a roaring Ford V8 and a screaming Ferrari V12. The “home team” in this case was Dan Gurney and Bob Bondurant driving the #5 Shelby Daytona Coupe and the “away team” was Enzo Ferrari and his crew from Italy with their juggernaut of a racing team that had totally dominated Le Mans for more than half a decade before Shelby and the boys showed up in ’63 and got their clocks cleaned by the red cars with the horse on the front.

It has been 50 years since the greatest upset win in the history of Le Mans and the story still gives us chills, especially when presented in the masterful way that Pat Bondurant and Chris Lombardo of Red Guitar Films present it to us in this nine-minute video masterpiece. With great narration and through the use of fantastic video clips and still photos, Lombardo constructs the story of Shelby Vs Ferrari and provides enough background to have even the most unfamiliar with the story understand how much of a stretch it was to think that the guys from California could actually beat Enzo at his own game.

There were six Daytonas built and the cars (at the time) were not seen as being worth much of anything when Shelby finally decided to get rid of them. They had all been ridden very hard and put away very wet. They sold for pennies on the dollar and are now worth millions. Hell, Phil Remington (before he passed away, obviously) talked about how the guys in the shop all pretty much hated the cars and worked on them begrudgingly. Their efforts shook the foundation of sports car racing all over the world and gave Americans something to really cheer about at Le Mans.

The win was by no means a runaway and there are great accounts of how the lead car dropped out and the hopes and dreams of Shelby were pinned on the second car which had been assembled on the fly in France before the race. Accounts of Shelby staring off into the darkness waiting, hoping, and silently praying he would see headlights again, and again create an image that is hard to keep from dwelling on. We don’t know what Enzo was thinking every time he saw those lights but we believe Shelby sure was happy.

We’re kind of surprised we have not heard more about this most important of anniversaries in American racing. We’re thankful to have found this video and we know that you’ll love it. Bob Bondurant and Dan Gurney are still around and their names will long live in the annals of American racing for being the talented wheelmen that garnered Shelby the ultimate honor in 1964. Victory at Le Mans.

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE A TRULY GREAT LOOK AT THE 1964 SHEBLY LE MANS VICTORY – INSPIRING FOR SURE!